Raynham Selectmen Chairman Joseph Pacheco has thrown his hat in the ring in the race for state Representative in the 8th Plymouth — and he’s come out swinging.

Pacheco said incumbent Angelo D’Emilia didn’t do enough to support Raynham Park’s bid for the state’s sole slots license. On Feb. 28, the Massachusetts Gaming Commission awarded the license to the Plainville applicant.

“He was silent when it came to weighing in on one of the most important issues of our time,” said Pacheco of D’Emilia, a Bridgewater Republican.

The 8th Plymouth District is made up of Bridgewater and Raynham.

But D’Emilia said he was far from silent on the slots issue.

He said he rose to speak in favor of the Raynham proposal at the Gaming Commission’s public hearing on slots at Raynham Middle School on Dec. 5 and even made his maiden speech in the legislature four years ago in support of expanded gaming in Massachusetts — helping to pave the way for the opportunity to pursue slots in Raynham.

But Pacheco, a Democrat who announced his candidacy for the seat on Friday, said D’Emilia could have fought a lot harder for Raynham slots.

Prior to the slots decision Raynham Park asked D’Emilia to send a letter of support to the Gaming Commission but D’Emilia declined to do so, Pacheco said.

And D’Emilia never called Raynham selectmen to offer his assistance with the project, despite the fact that Raynham town officials and voters had expressed overwhelming support for slots, Pacheco said.

“What he could have done is what other legislators did. He could have been there on election day, not just in Raynham but elsewhere. He could have written a letter to the Gaming Commission, he could have called to see if there was any way he could help,” Pacheco said.

Pacheco said, in contrast, State Sen. Marc R. Pacheco, D. Taunton, who also represents Raynham and Bridgewater, wrote a “phenomenal” letter of support to the Gaming Commission and called Raynham selectmen early on in the process to offer his assistance.

But, D’Emilia said, the slots decision was not his to make. It was the Gaming Commission’s call.

“Unfortunately, he doesn’t understand how the process works. The state representative doesn’t get to decide who will be awarded the slots license,” D’Emilia said.

D’Emilia said he had “no particular reason” for not sending the letter but that in no way indicated a lack of support for the proposal. In fact, he was in touch with the Carney family and expressed his full support, he said.

Page 2 of 3 - But Joseph Pacheco said D’Emilia’s input might have made a difference. One of the factors the Gaming Commission considered was local support — “which includes support from your local legislator,” Pacheco said.

“But our current representative was nowhere to be found when it came to carrying the ball in state government,” Pacheco said.

The Raynham project came in third of three applicants and generally scored lower in a variety of categories than the other two — Leominster and Plainville.

However, the one bright spot for Raynham was, in fact, local support. Gaming Commission Chairman Steve Crosby made a point of praising Raynham Park and owner George Carney in that one area — and only that area.

After panning the Raynham Park application overall, Crosby said, “The singular strength of the Raynham/PR (Parx Raynham) proposal is the distinguished business record of Mr. Carney and the virtually unanimous and genuine support he has in Raynham and nearby communities.”

Pacheco said Raynham isn’t the only community that lost out when the slots proposal went belly up. Bridgewater would also have benefitted from the infusion of cash and hundreds of new jobs. Raynham Park had inked a surrounding community agreement with Bridgewater that called for the developer to pay Bridgewater $150,000 a year in mitigation money if the slots parlor had opened.

Pacheco announced a couple of weeks ago that he was considering a run for state representative.

He said he decided to take the plunge after receiving “overwhelming and bipartisan support from residents from both communities” over the past month.

“In four years, Angelo’s never once been to a selectmen’s meeting in Raynham. You’ve got to be accessible. One of the reasons I think I’ve been successful is people know I’m accessible,” Pacheco said.

But D’Emilia said in those four years Raynham selectmen never invited him to attend, a fact he chalked up to political ambitions on Pacheco’s part. He said he is in regular contact with the Raynham town manager and devotes a great deal of effort and energy to working on issues important to Raynham residents.

He said he has supported expanded highway money, school aid and town aid and mosquito mitigation funding in the wake of the death of Raynham resident Martin Newfield from Eastern equine encephalitis in 2011.

“I guess this is how it will go. He’s going to go negative. Joe’s a young kid. He’s got a lot to learn. I don’t think the people of Bridgewater and Raynham will appreciate a negative campaign and I’m not going to run a negative campaign. I’m going to continue to focus on working hard on the issues the people of Bridgewater and Raynham care about,” D’Emilia said.

Page 3 of 3 - For his part, Pacheco said he has helped “craft conservative municipal budgets that have preserved core services and invested in town and school infrastructure” and worked hard to “attract and spur enhanced business growth in Paramount Park and along the Route 44 business corridor.”

“We need a representative who delivers and puts the needs of our families and communities first. We need a representative who will fight for jobs and economic development, for business growth and prosperity, for stronger educational opportunities and the health and safety of every resident. I’m running for state representative because we can do better and because this is the work that I’ve always been proud to do,” Pacheco said.